Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1887-06-07
The PRINTERS in Convention.


The thirty-ff annual meeting of the
International Typographical Union con.
vened in Buffalo, N. Y, yesterday morning
President Aimison, in his annual address
sIoke as follows concerning the "strike
fund.- sit is mooted question whether
the fund, as it exists now, is not productive
of more injury than benefit Last year it
was made obligatory to adopt the strike
furd law, and at once numerous applica
tions were made for aid; SO many, in fact
that the executive council became convinced
that the other unions would be violent in
opposition to the consequent assessment
There can be no question that in many in
stan ces the fund, and not just demand
was the potent factor in asking an advance
and if the fund had been allowed an i'm
mense number of men would have been
thrown out of employment. The executive
council therefore determined to withhold
aid except in extraordinary cases.
A resolution repeating the law of last
year making the Washington Craftsman the
official organ received strong support. Pres.
ident Duncan, of New York union, protest.
ed vigorously against the official organ and
assessment business, and thought it was the
very essence of cheek to compel support of
paper over which the International Typo.
graphical Union had no control. His re-.
marks were greeted with applause.
Mr.. Wilkins, of Boston, followed in the
same strain, protesting against having any
paper forced upon the unions. He said that
few of the 100 members of Boston unions
favored such thing. The discussion of
this question was continued at great length
and occupied the time OF the convention for
the greater part of the session. Finally
resolution was adopted repeating the law of
last year, which made it obligatory on mem.
bers of the union to subscribe for the Crafts.
man.
Among the questions to be decided by the
convention is that concerning plate matter,
which, the president says, promises TO give
rise to the greatest amount of discussion n
the convention, the union perhaps
never having been confronted with
such en- intricate and difficult question.
This stereotyped matter has been a thorn
in the flesh of compositor5 from the day of
its introduction, and attempts on the part Of
unions to abolish its Use have so far proven
useless. The modus Operaadi is we'll known.
Firms in the large cities set up the form for
one paper, manifold it into hundreds OF
plates and sell it TO publishers all over the
country at about one sixth or probably one
fifth the cost of composing that much type
The printers naturally object to such q sys-
tenn, as in many cases nothing save the 10.
cal or editorial column is set up in the cities
where papers are supposed to be published.
The number of hands required to print such
sheets is reduced three fourths 10 conse-
quence. On the other hand, the manipula.
tors of the scheme argue that the use ofplate
matter tends TO augment the number of pa
pers, and pretend that in the end printers
are benefited. But the printers, who are Of
course the losers, fail to look at the matter
through such spectacles, and can't un.
derstand why labor organizations forbid a
miller to use second hand barrels and at the
same time wink at system which is gradu'
ally running once lucrative profession. As
the scheme is now worked by the mauufac
turers of "patent outside" and plate matter,
paper published in Omaha or Kalamazoo
is with the exception Of the headline, a fac
smile of numbers printed in Virginia and in
every other State of the Union. 1t remains
to be seen whether the convention will
tackle the issue at this time or not. 1t is
more than probable it will not, but like the
Eastern Question, it will be left open as
was the case last year.